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Spain - Beyond the Icons from Celestial to Culinary · GowayPro Travel Tales

• 0:00
  Hey there everyone, I'm Don, Professor Goway, and welcome to the GoWay Pro Travel Tale Podcast.
• 0:13
  Travel far and travel often.
• 0:16
  Hello everyone, welcome to the GoAway Pro Travel Tales Podcast.
• 0:22
  Today we are talking about Spain, and if you've read the title of the podcast pod pod
• 0:28
  If you've read the title of the podcast, you will know that we're actually not going to talk about the big stuff of Spain or the famous iconic site, which would be things like uh
• 0:39
  a Sagrada Familia, which is the big, very famous, unfinished church.
• 0:44
  And I haven't introduced my guest formally here, but I want to ask a question of of Maji.
• 0:49
  Maji, is the is the is a sagrada now finished?
• 0:54
  I keep seeing reports that it is finished.
• 0:56
  And then I read that it isn't finished.
• 0:58
  So we are here to talk about not the big stuff, but this one is interesting to me.
• 1:03
  So is is La Sagrada Familia finished?
• 1:07
  The answer, the short answer is no.
• 1:10
  It's not yet.
• 1:12
  So the plan is to finish in 2034.
• 1:18
  yeah, it will take quite a lot of time.
• 1:21
  the second to last tower is already finished.
• 1:30
  the tower of Jesus Christ.
• 1:32
  So this is a great achievement.
• 1:35
  And maybe that's why some people think that it's already finished, but it's not.
• 1:41
  Yeah, and that's what I think.
• 1:42
  I saw a story of the lowering of that last tower and someone said that was it, it was done.
• 1:47
  But obviously you've just confirmed that, that it's not done.
• 1:50
  And I'm gonna guess that Spain probably never finishes it because it it's a good story that it's never ever finished.
• 1:56
  But again, we're not here to talk about the big stuff, we're here to talk about some of the other stuff.
• 1:59
  Um so along with that, or Spain is well known for um the Alhambra, you've got the famous cities of Seville, Granada, Barcelona, uh Valencia, Cordoba.
• 2:11
  etc.
• 2:12
  Of course, Spain has amazing beach life, Costa del Sol, all those wonderful things, nature as well.
• 2:20
  But we are here today to talk about not those, other things, but but we're going to focus in on the culinary and the celestial.
• 2:27
  So Spain is well known, rightly so for its cuisine, um, which we'll get into, but also upcoming in two thousand and twenty-six and two thousand and twenty seven, I believe, are
• 2:39
  some solar eclipses.
• 2:40
  So
• 2:42
  that's what we're gonna focus on, but it's not gonna be me, 'cause I don't know much about this.
• 2:45
  This is where our guest, Majib from the Spanish Tourism Organization based in you're in New York, is that right?
• 2:52
  Uh in New York, okay.
• 2:55
  so I gather you are Spanish by birth and that's your your home country?
• 2:59
  Yes, correct.
• 3:00
  I was born in Barcelona and moved to...
• 3:03
  In Barcelona.
• 3:04
  Okay.
• 3:04
  So I have some basic Spanish, but mine's Latin Spanish, so I don't have the famous uh Castillero Lisp, which I already heard when you said Barcelona.
• 3:13
  Barcelona.
• 3:14
  Um so before we get into all these other things, Machi, can you tell me how you got involved in pr in the promotion of your country?
• 3:23
  Have you always been involved in tourism?
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  Is it something you came to later in life?
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  How did you get involved?
• 3:29
  Well, I'm a civil servant.
• 3:32
  It was when I joined the Spanish executive branch, you know, there were plenty of options.
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  And the most attractive one was tourism at that time.
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  So it was just a coincidence at that moment.
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  My plan was just to try it.
• 3:53
  And it was it was so amazing experience, you know,
• 3:57
  completely changed my mind.
• 3:59
  know, uh promoting your country abroad gave me a lot of opportunities to even know our country better, but also learn more about other cultures because I think sometimes the
• 4:12
  best way to promote your own country or your own destinations is knowing better what the customer wants and what they expect during their holidays.
• 4:25
  And that's why I...
• 4:27
  I was so engaged that I never left.
• 4:30
  Fair enough.
• 4:31
  Um, when you were younger or even when you were older, uh did you travel throughout Spain itself or throughout Europe or the world?
• 4:37
  Like has travel always been an interest to you?
• 4:41
  Yes, yes, know, although I'm born and raised in Barcelona, I spent all my holidays in Saló, which is a small resort very close to Barcelona, the seaside.
• 4:54
  And there you see thousands of people from all over Europe spending their holidays there.
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  And I was always curious about their countries of origin.
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  So I was very lucky that my parents were very engaged in traveling.
• 5:09
  So after the summer, we always organize trips to Europe.
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  We started in Europe, of course, then we tried to other countries, whether the US, Australia, you know, uh so we traveled quite a lot when we are young.
• 5:27
  And so it somehow opened our minds.
• 5:30
  uh It's an amazing experience, you know, traveling.
• 5:36
  Yeah, yeah.
• 5:37
  Well egg again, uh that's I think one of the reasons most people get involved in in travel and tourism, whether they come through a sort of a formal gateway like yourself through
• 5:46
  the through the government services or like myself, traveling as a youth and then getting becoming a travel guide and just falling in love with it.
• 5:54
  And I think what was key in your statement there was it, you know, it opens your mind to everything really.
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  Um if you look at it the right way.
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  Different cultures, different ways of doing things, different attitudes.
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  Different foods, uh different everything.
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  Um often when I speak to people uh from around the world, we're all we're always conversing in English, and generally speaking the English of my guests are exceptional, as
• 6:19
  is yours.
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  Um and quite often I find that they've been educated outside of their home country.
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  Um is is that the case for you?
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  Did you do any education in the US or elsewhere, or were you uh born and raised throughout in Spain?
• 6:34
  Not unfortunately, that's why I have this strong accent, I think.
• 6:37
  So thanks for the compliment, but I know that my English is, well, it's good, but of course the pronunciation is, I never had the chance to study abroad.
• 6:51
  that's, but I learned English watching movies.
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  And I had honestly very good teachers.
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  So that's how I learned English.
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  Is um is English part of the curriculum in schools in Spain?
• 7:08
  Yes, certainly.
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  And our generations were the first ones to have English because our parents used to have French.
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  we were.
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  Yes.
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  So I'm from the 70s and that generation, we started with English.
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  That's why it was so important to have good teachers.
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  At that time, was difficult to find English speaking teachers.
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  Now it's very easy.
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  programs, even some public schools in Spain teach in English some subjects, but at the time was something rare.
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  uh Even some people from a generation, they managed better French than English.
• 7:54
  Yeah, I've got a very good friend back home in Australia, uh, who he and his family migrated to Australia from Poland.
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  and he had very little English when he first arrived.
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  But the English he did have, um, he learnt through music.
• 8:08
  Uh you said you learned some of yours through the movies.
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  He learned his through he he loved his he loved his heavy metal music and he would learn the words that were being sung in English.
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  And that's how he got his first steps into into English.
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  Um so yeah, it's always interesting to hear.
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  How again other cultures when you're exposed to it, how it can influence you.
• 8:27
  Anything from excuse me, food to, you know, learning that language.
• 8:32
  Um, okay, so let's get into our conversation point.
• 8:35
  Excuse me, one second.
• 8:36
  um Sorry about that.
• 8:39
  I'm just getting over a rather bad cold.
• 8:41
  Um, so as we mentioned, uh, we're gonna focus on on culinary and celestial.
• 8:46
  So let's talk about the skies uh first.
• 8:49
  Um and I didn't know this until you brought this up for our conversation.
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  In two thousand and twenty six, which is this year, and twenty seventh, there are some solar eclipses happening.
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  Um so why Spain f to view those?
• 9:01
  When are they happening?
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  Uh basically film me in and our audience in on why someone should consider getting to Spain to witness those solar eclipses.
• 9:11
  Well, we think it's another excuse to visit Spain.
• 9:14
  We know that many uh North Americans avoid August as a month of visiting Europe.
• 9:23
  And we think it's a good chance oh to change their habits uh and visit their country because here in New York, it was a huge phenomenon when we the solar eclipse.
• 9:38
  And very unfortunately,
• 9:40
  not everybody could enjoy it in the proper place because it was very difficult to lodging, was very difficult to find a place with good infrastructures to turn, to visit the right
• 9:57
  spots, you know.
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  And this is something that we are pretty confident that will not happen in Spain because we uh have a country that is fully prepared to host all this.
• 10:10
  people, tourists that would love to have this unique experience.
• 10:16
  In the US, it was an amazing experience.
• 10:19
  People really had a great time.
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  But uh we have seen that many people wanted to go to the mountains or go to some special places.
• 10:30
  And now we know that, for instance, NASA is considering broadcasting directly from Spain, this solar eclipse.
• 10:38
  So that's why we think that we have the best spots to enjoy the view or non view of the sun and the solar eclipse.
• 10:48
  I think it's a uh good occasion to go to Spain and also because, as I said before, we have good facilities, lodging, also good airports.
• 11:00
  So everything prepared so you can enjoy not only in the main cities because some people think, OK, I can enjoy it from.
• 11:09
  Mallorca, for instance, is a very popular destination among Americans.
• 11:14
  But some people can go simply to La Colonia, or Viedo, or Teruel, very other spots or cities that are not usually on the main catalogs.
• 11:27
  So we think it's a good chance to visit cities that are totally of the beaten path, but also that can provide a great experience of this phenomenon.
• 11:38
  that is unique, you because very few times in your life will you be able to watch a total solar eclipse.
• 11:48
  And Spain, have two opportunities now.
• 11:51
  In 2026, in August 12th, and in 2037, in August 12th, and in the second.
• 11:59
  Okay, so both years it's in August.
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  And as you say, um if NASA are choosing Spain to observe it, then I think that pretty much seals it as the best place to catch it.
• 12:10
  Um are there any particular cities where it will be better to see the eclipse or is it something you can take in across all of Spain?
• 12:18
  It's not exactly.
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  In the 26th eclipse, it will go, so to speak, from westwards to eastwards.
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  So in the northern part of will be maybe the best spot because not everybody, not everybody spends their holidays in the northern part of Spain.
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  So it's a good chance for foreigners to go there and find out.
• 12:47
  nice spots.
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  So this is a good opportunity to discover, for instance, Asturias or Galicia.
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  Now we have a direct flight from Newark to Galicia to Santander or Postel.
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  So it's a good chance that you have a direct flight even from the US to go to this spot.
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  So everything somehow is, can you say that the stars are aligning so happy?
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  There is very appropriate to make this comparison.
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  But I think that it's a good spot.
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  But of course, if people want to be comfortable or you're traveling with your families, you can always go to the Bavarian Islands and stay in Mallorca or Menorca.
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  There is a Biosphere Reserve in Menorca.
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  And from there, you can have a nice experience, but also can have great hotels, nice family vacations there.
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  It's good, so everybody will be happy.
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  So stay.
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  Perfect.
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  I was just smiling as you were uh passing on the information 'cause I heard in the background all the sirens going off.
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  So all the ambient sounds of New Yeah.
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  All the ambient sounds of New York City happening in behind you there.
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  Um so um
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  Your point is um with the eclipses in particular, that going up north is a good spot to go, which obviously takes you away from the again, the usual suspects of the big cities.
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  Um, is the infrastructure throughout Spain for tourism like I know the answer to this question, but I'll ask it anyway.
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  Like is is infrastructure in the smaller towns and the smaller regions ready for be it some tourists or a lot of tourists?
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  And the reason I ask that is one
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  So our uh our travel partners out there can understand whether it is.
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  But two, and again, we all must understand and I think a lot of people realise too that when you see things on the news, it's often sensationalized or it's a it's a small thing
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  making news again, being sensationalized.
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  And what has been hitting the airways here, not recently but over the last year and a bit was the pushback by locals in Spain of tourism in Spain or the over tourism in Spain.
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  Is that
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  A thing?
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  Is it something that was blown out of proportion?
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  Is it something that was only sort of localized to maybe some of the biggest cities?
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  Well, honestly, our approach to this is very neutral and clear.
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  These problems usually are reported in summer, usually in August, when there are no other news to report because everybody's on holidays.
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  And sometimes it's been exaggerated.
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  I don't mean that, of course, local people sometimes.
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  complain about oh certain situations, but it's not about tourism itself.
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  It's always about the lack of housing.
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  So it has completely nothing to do with tourism.
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  That's why, you know, the good point about that is that uh local authorities are taking measures very seriously.
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  So these kind of situations.
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  don't take place and don't take place because we manage better cruises because sometimes it's like a visual impact that sometimes you have two, three, four cruises, thousands of
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  people disembarking in a small harbor.
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  So it's like a kind of impact.
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  But if you consider a city like Barcelona, for instance, that the majority of tourism events take place throughout the year.
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  So Barcelona is one of the favorite cities to...
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  host, organize a congress, for instance.
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  So the city is more based on this kind of tourism, not the leisure tourist, so to speak.
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  That's why it's sometimes surprising to hear this kind of news.
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  But certainly we are trying to manage that.
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  uh And we think that the experience is excellent.
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  Honestly, Spain has always been considered the best country as a destination, the best destination in the world.
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  for many years in a row.
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  ah This last year was an exception.
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  We have the infrastructure everywhere, not only in the main cities, but also in small ones.
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  And we are seeing that that's quite funny.
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  And this is what we enjoy when we read our surveys that more and more tourists, particularly from America, find very funny going to this typical
• 17:37
  totally the beaten path spot and they try to order a meal in Spanish, because sometimes the waiter cannot manage to speak English.
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  And so it's part of the funny aspect of being abroad.
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  So this small challenge that trying to order coffee or ham or your meal in a very small village in the mountains.
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  So this part of what
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  makes tourism so special, this kind of adventure.
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  But of course, if you go to small towns that are close to the seaside or to the capital, of course, everybody speaks English.
• 18:20
  ah Yes, they can manage that.
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  And we have infrastructure.
• 18:27
  That's why we think and we are seeing that it's going to be quite an amazing event.
• 18:34
  I think it was last week.
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  Even United Airlines said that they were seeing a huge increase in bookings to Spain thanks in August, and we hope this is thanks to this eclipse event.
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  So we know that we have the direct flights.
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  We have the best hotels almost everywhere.
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  Even small cities have good hotels there.
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  That's why we always so, we are prepared to welcome tourists.
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  very soon.
• 19:08
  Happy to uh welcome.
• 19:11
  So to our travel partners out there, as you can hear from what Maji's saying is that uh Spain is capable at in all destinations, be it the big cities or the remote countryside
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  cities, to accept tourists in general.
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  Excuse me again.
• 19:26
  Um but also with the big events in general.
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  But of course, in this instance we're talking about the eclipse, they are again ready to go.
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  However, it is Europe, it is the high season.
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  So if you do have clients that
• 19:38
  have learnt about this or you now want to pitch this to your clients, um, we are in coming up to June.
• 19:45
  So it would be now considered somewhat close to a last minute booking for Europe and Spain, of course.
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  So get in, give us a call, we can look for the accommodation, be it in a big city or a smaller city, to get your clients over there for the eclipse.
• 19:59
  Or ideally, if they can't get in for any reason, you can pitch next year.
• 20:03
  So this is a good thing.
• 20:04
  It's not just what's coming up in two months, it's what's coming up in about fourteen months as well.
• 20:08
  So there's lots of time to plan for that as well.
• 20:11
  Um, yeah, the reason I was asking that question is one, just to get clarification on what sometimes the news, as I said, sent sensationalises.
• 20:20
  But also we see throughout Europe in particular, but worldwide, but more so Europe, that it's getting busier and busier.
• 20:28
  Like Europe was always busy in summertime, but it's now busy in wintertime.
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  It's in certain countries and cities Paris, London,
• 20:36
  Berlin, etcetera.
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  It's crazy busy now than what it used to be.
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  So I would assume Spain is similar.
• 20:42
  Is it on the same levels as Italy and France with its uh summertime traffic, or would Spain be, relatively speaking, lesser touristed than those uh neighbouring countries,
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  France and Italy in particular?
• 20:58
  Well, the huge advantage that we have in Spain is that almost all hotels and almost all destinations are open all year round.
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  This is a huge advantage.
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  So people can travel anytime.
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  And we are seeing now that even December, November, and January, even January, are great months for North Americans.
• 21:27
  to travel to Spain.
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  The peak month usually is June, not July or August, June, May, September.
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  So people always travel in the shoulder seasons.
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  That's the peak months.
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  But now we are experiencing huge demands in particularly in December.
• 21:47
  December last year has been amazing.
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  People want to enjoy the Christmas markets.
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  People want to enjoy.
• 21:57
  Yes, Christmas time in different cities.
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  And since we have so many direct flights, people find it very convenient to go there, spend their holidays on Christmas Eve in Spain.
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  This is something we are very happy about that because local communities are very grateful.
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  They like it because they are not used to have tourists in the winter season.
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  mean, in the peninsula.
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  Spanish Peninsula.
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  But in the islands, for instance, in the Canary Islands, it's like being in Hawaii, but in Europe, they're used to welcome tourists all around, as say.
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  So the Germans and the Norwegians, everybody spend their holidays there.
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  And there's never lack of capacity because there's a lot of islands and a lot of infrastructure.
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  And it's very good to spend your winter time.
• 22:56
  That's why we are also promoting these islands, because people from the eastern coast here in North America can have the chance to visit volcanic islands that are, for instance,
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  Tenerife is one of the main islands in the archipelago, has the highest mountain in Spain called El Teide.
• 23:24
  mountains of volcano is like the Mount Fuji in Japan.
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  So instead of traveling to Japan or after traveling to Japan, you can go to this small island and have also a nice view of another volcano, but you're in Europe.
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  So this combination of being like in Japan or in the Caribbean and also in Europe at the same time, it's quite unique.
• 23:44
  And we are seeing that many people, many people from North America really love traveling.
• 23:51
  Yeah, that actually ties in well with our subject matter today of Spain beyond the icons, because about a month ago, maybe, I did a webinar with Tenerife, um and they explained to
• 24:01
  me and to our listening audience, viewing audience all the joys and highlights of Tenerife.
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  So as you just brought up, it's a really good alternative to mainland Spain and um and mainland Europe.
• 24:15
  Um, be it the high season or be it the off season because it's uh beautiful weather.
• 24:20
  wine the whole thing.
• 24:21
  So go and check out that webinar if you haven't for that extension on today's subject matter of being beyond the icons of Spain.
• 24:30
  Um so let's get to our other sort of topic today and that's this food of Spain.
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  Now I just came back from India and we were fed to death and the food was wonderful.
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  And if you're on a diet, forget it because it's just food everywhere, be it in the five star restaurants, you can go from Western street food
• 24:50
  There is meat in India, vegetarian, vegan, the whole thing.
• 24:54
  Now, Spain is rightfully famous for its cuisine offerings.
• 24:59
  it's also, if you don't know, uh probably more so than most places I see it or saw it a lot as I was tour guiding in Latin America, that ah dinner time particular, but eating is
• 25:10
  a very social thing, a very family-oriented thing.
• 25:13
  Um you've got some very famous recipes and styles of food down there.
• 25:18
  Tapas being one which we'll talk about in a minute.
• 25:21
  So what makes Spain Spa Spanish food, the Spanish culinary offerings so special?
• 25:29
  And why does it sometimes take a back seat to maybe the French cuisine?
• 25:36
  Well, it's very easy to understand.
• 25:39
  It's first of all that the French and Italians simply just came first.
• 25:43
  So people were used to them before or gastronomy was known.
• 25:50
  But thankfully, thankfully, our restaurants or cooks now are very well known.
• 26:01
  If you just check the rankings of the best restaurants in the world,
• 26:05
  there's always, always in the top four, at least two Spanish ones, sometimes even three out of four.
• 26:12
  So I think they're doing a great job at promoting.
• 26:16
  So it was more a marketing thing rather than a uh gastronomy aspect, know, that the food has always been very original, unique, diverse, diverse, because we think that the main
• 26:30
  point here is that we are a small country.
• 26:35
  compared to Canada or the US.
• 26:38
  But we have so many mountains that each valley has very unique cuisine and very unique astronomy.
• 26:44
  And that's why our travelers always love having a great time.
• 26:51
  It's a great moment of rest and gathering around the table and having great food that is completely different from the one that you have in the neighboring valley.
• 27:05
  or in the neighboring city.
• 27:06
  And this is something that people really like.
• 27:08
  And of all, since the food is so diverse, rich, uh and tasty, we know as human beings, you know, that you will always remember when you eat well.
• 27:21
  So that's a fact.
• 27:24
  And that's why we think that people really like going to Spain.
• 27:29
  I'll give you just one thing, know.
• 27:32
  Last year, last year,
• 27:34
  11 % of Americans that travel to Spain have been there more than 10 times.
• 27:41
  Ten top.
• 27:42
  More than 10 times.
• 27:43
  So imagine, so only, you know, in a diverse country, you can have this kind of repetition rate.
• 27:53
  know, something that is, it's amazing.
• 27:57
  And we think that, of course, we are very proud of our culture and we are very proud of our landscapes.
• 28:04
  But we think that also food is playing a key role here because once you have been in Barcelona, once you've been in Madrid, you want to go to...
• 28:11
  for instance, San Sebastian or Vila Valle or, you know, Cajon or, you know, Santiago de Postela, Santa De, you know, the northern part of Spain is very rich in Castrani.
• 28:28
  People really like being there, know, or Avila or Toledo, because to Madrid, you know, so Oviedo and Cajon, know, these two cities in the stories that I've just made.
• 28:39
  And also you can go to Extremadura and enjoy.
• 28:41
  the original Spanish hand.
• 28:44
  So, you know, every region has different culinary dishes that are totally unique and different.
• 28:54
  And this is what people really like that, you know, because after enjoying a nice view or visiting a cathedral or having a great time at the seaside, you know, at the beach, you
• 29:07
  can just enjoy either a nice paella that is very iconic, I know.
• 29:12
  but you can eat also in Mallorca too, you know, kind of roll, that is very tasty, you know, or different foods that you can find, for instance, in the Perinese, in the
• 29:25
  mountains.
• 29:26
  So, and people like that, and people remember that, and people talk about that to their neighbors.
• 29:32
  uh That's why, so people repeat and go there.
• 29:36
  So it's...
• 29:38
  It's something that for us is amazing.
• 29:40
  I've never seen that before.
• 29:42
  been working this trade for more than 27 years.
• 29:46
  It's the first time that I see neighbors here across New York that take a plane, go to San Sebastian, eat, and fly back, maybe spend there three, four days.
• 29:59
  Yeah, it's something amazing, amazing.
• 30:03
  I'm not saying that food is the main driver, but certainly,
• 30:07
  It's like a good excuse, know.
• 30:09
  So, they find an excuse, okay, let's visit the cathedrals or let's enjoy a good concert because now people are also taking the chance to visit Spain because of the concerts.
• 30:21
  But also have a great meal with my wife, the family, and just play back.
• 30:28
  So, it's something that's totally amazing.
• 30:31
  And we love to hear that because, you know, food is part of our culture, it's part of our identity.
• 30:36
  is something that makes us very proud.
• 30:41
  Yeah, and I think you're right.
• 30:42
  it mightn't be the main driver for most people.
• 30:45
  For some it is.
• 30:45
  People will travel places just to eat.
• 30:48
  But even if it's not at the top of your list, as you say, you'll you'll do your day of exploring, whatever it may be, anything from trekking, surfing, lying by a pool all day at
• 30:57
  a resort, visiting cathedrals, visiting museums.
• 31:00
  End of the day you need to eat, you need to drink.
• 31:03
  And I guess that's the next step in any country is to sample the local cuisine.
• 31:09
  Because it's nine times out of ten different than where you come from.
• 31:12
  And quite often, as in Spain in particular, it has a reputation of being of being wonderful.
• 31:18
  Let me ask you from a cultural point of view.
• 31:20
  When I was uh traveling and guiding through Latin America, um, for most of the countries there wasn't the classic siesta, the afternoon break.
• 31:29
  However, when we went to Argentina, uh, I learned that Argentina is sort of more probably closely linked culturally to Spain.
• 31:37
  And therefore they followed to a stronger degree than the other Latin countries this afternoon, Siesta, where the shops would shut down about one, two o'clock and stay closed
• 31:45
  until about four or five, then they'd reopen.
• 31:47
  And then dinners were very, very late in the evening.
• 31:50
  Very European, Spanish thing.
• 31:52
  In fact, we went to Perillia one night as Westerners, and we went in about seven o'clock for dinner.
• 31:57
  The place was empty, though it was preparing the evening meal.
• 32:01
  We sat down as a group, we ate a couple of hours later, nine, nine thirty, we were leaving.
• 32:05
  And that's when all the Argentinians came in, because they eat later.
• 32:10
  Is that still something that happens in Spain?
• 32:13
  I.
• 32:13
  e.
• 32:14
  is there the afternoon siesta where things in general will close down?
• 32:18
  And or do most Spanish uh eat dinner particularly later in the night compared to those timings in the US and Canada?
• 32:28
  Well, one of the huge advantages of Spain, and particularly the tourism experience, is that now almost all restaurants, I'm not saying they are open all day long, but they start
• 32:44
  very early and they close very late.
• 32:47
  And this is one of the huge advantages, as I say, of being a very popular tourist destination.
• 32:56
  So.
• 32:57
  We started very early, so many decades ago, certainly it was a fact that some tourists couldn't find the right restaurant open at 12, or at 1 p.m.
• 33:14
  But now it's not the case.
• 33:16
  Now even at 11 a.m.
• 33:18
  you can start and have either brunch or lunch, whatever you think better, and that close out.
• 33:27
  1 a.m.
• 33:28
  or 2 a.m.
• 33:30
  in the light at night.
• 33:31
  So it's something that it's a lot of variety here and particularly in popular destinations.
• 33:40
  And in small towns, of course, sometimes they close at your fourth or sixth of time, but it has to be small towns.
• 33:52
  The normal ones that you usually visit as tourists, it doesn't happen.
• 33:57
  uh this way because demand creates opportunities.
• 34:03
  And of course, restaurants think, okay, I have enough tourists, I can start early.
• 34:08
  It's not a problem.
• 34:10
  So, main tourist shops are open, of course, in certain areas or small towns not, but I can tell you that the majority of them are open.
• 34:27
  It's funny, you because even me, you as a Spaniard, sometimes I go to the mountains.
• 34:34
  It's even it's 2 p.m.
• 34:36
  and you want to order a burger in the restaurant and the waiter tells you, well, you have to go to the other village, to the neighboring village to order a burger because we don't
• 34:46
  serve burgers here.
• 34:47
  So it's part of the, you know, part of the attraction of being a tourist is something that sometimes is unexpected.
• 34:55
  that they say, okay, here we don't serve only lamb or beef, but never a burger with fries that some people expect.
• 35:06
  So has has the changing times uh in general and the advent of tourism in particular uh changed the cultural aspect of the average Spaniard?
• 35:18
  So let me ask you this.
• 35:19
  When you're back home with your family, do you eat Western hours, like an early dinner, seven o'clock?
• 35:27
  Or do does average Spaniard still eat later in the evening?
• 35:31
  Or has that changed through
• 35:33
  influx of the modern times in tourism.
• 35:36
  It has changed a lot and you notice that in younger generations or even in mine.
• 35:47
  Nowadays, the business hours, least for instance, even in our department, we are a government agency, it resembles more than the one that we have here New York and the one
• 36:02
  that we had maybe 20 years ago.
• 36:06
  So I think it's good that new generations are somehow driving a change and adjusting and creating more free time.
• 36:20
  So it's not something that changes everywhere.
• 36:25
  Of course, if you go to the southern part of Spain, where you have more sunlight hours and sometimes the temperature is slightly higher.
• 36:35
  people tend to split and have a sister time and more in the evenings.
• 36:40
  But certainly in Madrid, in Barcelona, and other cities, the business hours are changing.
• 36:50
  So they're open more time, so longer, they're open longer, but in your business, things are changing.
• 37:00
  And this is, I think it's good.
• 37:02
  Yeah, yeah.
• 37:04
  It's more efficient.
• 37:06
  I if if the Spanish are happy with it then you know, it's cool.
• 37:12
  Again, this is like thirty years ago as well, so as you say, things have slowly changed.
• 37:16
  I'm sure Argentina has probably changed in the same way.
• 37:19
  Um a couple of questions for you here.
• 37:21
  I've got on my notes here.
• 37:22
  Um some different types of food in different regions, which you touched on before.
• 37:27
  You're saying like literally from one valley to another, you can get a difference.
• 37:30
  But I some of the sort of more sort of main notes of somewhere like um Alicia where you have
• 37:36
  Seafood.
• 37:36
  Um you have Catalonia, which has this is the shine reading for my notes here.
• 37:41
  Mediterranean meets the avant-garde, Andalusia, the birthplace of Gaspacho, fried fresh and sherry, Valencia, the pay, yes.
• 37:51
  Um, I noticed in my notes here, it mentions Basque Country.
• 37:55
  I don't know how to pronounce this, I'll spell it to you.
• 37:57
  You could then pronounce it for me.
• 37:59
  P I N T X O S.
• 38:03
  Pinchoks?
• 38:04
  How does he pronounce that?
• 38:05
  Pinch us.
• 38:06
  Pinchos, pinchos.
• 38:07
  Um so
• 38:11
  There are small snacks or appetizers that are very popular in the West Country.
• 38:20
  It's like tapas, know, the tapas that you maybe the word is more familiar to you.
• 38:24
  Tapas.
• 38:25
  It's a style tapas, so to speak.
• 38:28
  gonna come back to a question to you on the bus country itself, but can you explain uh to people out there who may not know what a tapas is?
• 38:39
  Yeah, well, as I say, it's like a kind of snack or appetizer that you say, know, tapa in Spanish, like a lit, you know, that you have on a drink, for instance.
• 38:52
  And it was that reason of serving is that when you used to order, for instance, wine, came with a lit and over that lit was like a portion of food, you know, so it would be ham or
• 39:06
  cheese, whatever, you know, but
• 39:08
  it became so popular that now they are like a dish on their own.
• 39:15
  So it's not like something like a side dish, but it used to be like a plate, something that you have that's it.
• 39:22
  And that's why it became popular, but usually it was something that was like a side dish, was for free, that you just were ordering a uh beer or wine and the waiter served you this
• 39:35
  snack.
• 39:38
  Okay.
• 39:39
  Now, one thing I've learned about Spain as I've spoken to people like yourself, and I've can't remember the gentleman's name from Tenerife.
• 39:46
  Um, and my own interest is the history of Spain, going back to the age of discovery, all that type of thing.
• 39:53
  I have learnt that Spain, as you mentioned, is a smaller country obviously in the US and Canada.
• 39:58
  but it's very, very diverse, be it to the south, be it to the north, east, or to the west, bordering obviously with Portugal as well.
• 40:04
  Um, now there is some internal
• 40:07
  history naturally and political um conflict, let's say for want a better term.
• 40:12
  I don't know enough about it other than just to state that that I understand that the Basque country historically or it might be ongoing has always looked to separate from
• 40:22
  Spain.
• 40:23
  So why is Basque country or let me rephrase that, is Basque the region country very different to Spain?
• 40:32
  So regardless of the political background to it
• 40:35
  When you go into the Bas country, are you noticing a different type of Spain?
• 40:41
  Yes, certainly.
• 40:42
  But I have to tell you, not only in the Basque Country, even if you go to Catalonia, if you go to the Balearic Islands, if you go to Galicia, you know, it's as I mentioned
• 40:52
  before, in Spain we have a lot of mountains.
• 40:54
  People don't know that, but we have a lot of mountains and they create very unique and different communities.
• 41:02
  That's why I think, you know, tourism is so important and came so naturally to our
• 41:10
  way of life, you know, because uh what tourists want is something different.
• 41:17
  In Spain, you can find this difference, you can find this uniqueness in different regions.
• 41:23
  So it's not something that every valley is the same or every city is the same or every region is the same.
• 41:31
  No, in Spain, we have many uh regional languages.
• 41:35
  We have many different, you know, gastronomies.
• 41:38
  uh
• 41:40
  cuisines or landscapes and cultures.
• 41:44
  Of course, the Basque Country is one of them.
• 41:48
  And of course, you notice it right away, just when you land at the airport and you notice that.
• 41:55
  Particularly if you can speak Spanish, you'll notice that some of the people don't speak Spanish, they speak Basque language, it's their own language.
• 42:04
  So certainly it's something that is very noticeable.
• 42:08
  The same happens in Catalonia.
• 42:10
  You have another flag, you have another language, Catalan, you know.
• 42:14
  And also in the northern part of Catalonia, a small valley called Val d'Aran, and they have Aranes, that is originally from France, but it's also a different language.
• 42:24
  So we have plenty of languages in Spain.
• 42:27
  Yes, if you are an expert, it's not the first time that you're in Spain, but it's the second or the third one, the third time that you are in Spain, you notice it right away.
• 42:38
  So yes, it's difficult.
• 42:41
  Okay, so
• 42:42
  part of the appeal of our destination.
• 42:46
  Exactly.
• 42:46
  You you took the words out of my mouth because like most uh modern day countries, if you look into your history and people who listen to me should know that I love my history,
• 42:55
  that I know that Spain, prior to becoming modern day Spain, was a whole lot of city states, as Italy was, as France was, as England was as well.
• 43:03
  They're all sort of Northumberland, they're all regions that's eventually coalesced into what we now know as England, UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
• 43:13
  Um so it doesn't surprise me, but it seems to me, and again I'm not a European expert, but it seems to me that Spain seems to hold on to those differences, and I mean that in a
• 43:24
  positive way, of those city states.
• 43:25
  As you just mentioned, like Catalonia has a different language, different style of Spanish.
• 43:29
  Basque is a separate language altogether.
• 43:32
  And as you mentioned, again, yeah, from one region to another, it can be noticeably different.
• 43:36
  Is that a fair statement to say that Spain out of other European countries
• 43:41
  These individual what were city states held on to their original languages and cultures more than maybe city states of Italy or France?
• 43:51
  Well, I think our history is slightly different.
• 43:57
  So Spain was unified much earlier than, for instance, Italy or Germany.
• 44:04
  But it was done in a very particular territory.
• 44:09
  It was like a collection of kingdoms.
• 44:13
  Just went together under one crown, so to speak.
• 44:17
  But in those years,
• 44:21
  It was before discovering America.
• 44:25
  So it was like a loose uh unification, so to speak, that allowed different regions or different small kingdoms to thrive differently.
• 44:37
  So it was one single country, but uh with their own particularities.
• 44:45
  Just to give you an example, Columbus reached America before
• 44:50
  the island of Tenerife became part of Spain.
• 44:53
  Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 44:55
  just an example.
• 44:56
  So this is the reference moment.
• 44:59
  So we became unified, in medieval terms, so to speak.
• 45:05
  it was something that we were together for centuries, but always being respectful to the local culture, with exceptions, of course, because we had some wars that were unfortunate.
• 45:25
  But we somehow managed to stay together in this way, I'm calling it this loose federalism that was very unique at the time.
• 45:38
  So that's why we could preserve our own identities.
• 45:42
  So I think everything, this collection of unique cultures is what makes Spain so difficult.
• 45:53
  Yeah, I agree.
• 45:54
  And again, I speak only from having spoken to people like yourself and again other um other tourism boards from Europe.
• 46:02
  Um and I just find the more I learn about Spain the more it's as you just mentioned there, it's this um family of well it's it's one country now, it's Spain.
• 46:11
  but it's still this family of smaller regional feder federations for want of a better term, that had their own unique identities, which is amazing.
• 46:19
  Um the only other place that I've learnt about, I'm not saying it
• 46:23
  it doesn't exist elsewhere in Europe.
• 46:24
  Um, is in Switzerland where there are three distinct parts of Switzerland.
• 46:28
  There's the French, there's the Swiss, there's the Italian part, and you get those three identities within one country.
• 46:34
  Spain sounds very similar, more so than say, fr France or Italy, which again, I say all that because I think that's one of the big highlights of going to somewhere like Spain is
• 46:44
  that it's not a uniform experience across, you know, east to west, north to south.
• 46:50
  It'll be different as you move from region to region or even
• 46:53
  Valley to valley.
• 46:55
  um what's your wine culture like in Spain?
• 47:03
  Wine is what defines a region.
• 47:08
  I think it's a typical produce that grows from your soil.
• 47:16
  people are extremely, very strongly attached to the wine.
• 47:22
  It's something that is amazing.
• 47:25
  And here, if you're from a certain valley, you are very proud of the wines.
• 47:33
  that grow there.
• 47:35
  So we have more or less around 22 wine regions in Spain that are considered of tourism experience because not all wine regions are visible.
• 47:50
  But now what we are seeing, and this is one of the great advantages of being such a popular tourist destination, is that now many wineyards and many winemakers
• 48:03
  uh combined the commercial trade with the tourism experience.
• 48:09
  And they created their own museums, you're able to visit their own vineyards, to see that the winemaking, this is something that really is revolutionizing the experience and this
• 48:28
  trade.
• 48:29
  Because, just to give an example, some people in the Basque Country
• 48:34
  instead of hiding in vineyards, they just let the wines under the sea.
• 48:41
  So they have posits there under the sea and you just have to scuba dive there to see the wines and just can enjoy them after this dive.
• 48:53
  it's a lot of unique experiences that combine tourism and the joy of drinking wines.
• 49:01
  So it's, for instance, La Rioja.
• 49:03
  is a region that now has become very popular.
• 49:06
  It's one of the fastest growing regions in Spain right now among North Americans.
• 49:14
  And we think it's because of the wine mainly, or the name at least.
• 49:20
  Okay.
• 49:21
  So obviously you can hear there everyone uh listening in that um we have focused heavily on the food, um, which has a fantastic offering, be it uh Spanish in general or regional
• 49:33
  in particular, and of course it can be paired with uh the many Spanish wines on hand.
• 49:38
  Um Spain again, I've been to a lot of countries in Europe.
• 49:44
  I've done all the countries in Latin America, but I've not been to Spain, which is very remiss of me.
• 49:48
  I do love my Spanish history and influences from my time in Latin America.
• 49:54
  And the more I speak to people from Spain, be it directly or their representatives, a Maji here, um, I need to get there.
• 50:00
  And I have a very good friend who goes across now every year.
• 50:03
  Uh she airbs and bees it, goes to a local Spanish school, she goes exploring, exactly as Maji has mentioned here.
• 50:10
  Uh she's done the big cities, Valencia, Madrid, Barcelona.
• 50:14
  She's now exploring off into those little different regions and valleys.
• 50:18
  Exploring the differences that Spain offers.
• 50:21
  And again, a positive, it's not as big as the US or Canada or Australia from where I'm from originally.
• 50:26
  So therefore, all of everything we're discussing is in a very compact uh area.
• 50:32
  Um, we haven't touched on the infrastructures, but you know, rail, air, bus, cars, very easy to get around Spain, even with the mountains in between.
• 50:40
  Um, there's some fantastic outdoor activities, there's their coastline as we've mentioned.
• 50:46
  as well, lots of resort options if that's your cup of tea, cultural, historical.
• 50:51
  Spain's got it all in a very, very small spot.
• 50:54
  And again, what I'm learning more and more every time I talk about Spain is the diversity in this country is simply stunning.
• 51:01
  And as Maji mentions, based on his stats, you've got people going back more than ten times.
• 51:07
  So from a purely business point of view out there, getting someone to Spain, you can easily get them back to explore another region which will be
• 51:14
  If not completely different, very different from the last spot they visited.
• 51:19
  So on that note, I'd like to thank Maji for his time today.
• 51:22
  But before we do say goodbye, Maji, is there anything you would like to leave our listening audience with about Spain in general, the the eclipses in particular, the food,
• 51:31
  anything else you'd like to add to our conversation today?
• 51:35
  Well, I was just like, I like your last idea that maybe travel advisors should focus on Spain or specialize in Spain because, know, it's the best way to get repeating income or
• 51:49
  repeating clients, you know, so it's very easy for them, you know, to focus on one single country that can offer such an inverse experience.
• 52:02
  Yeah, and I think the other big plus about that too is from up my past conversations and I think um as you've also also mentioned it today, if not directly, indirectly, that you can
• 52:11
  go into the big cities, Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, etcetera, um, and have the hustle and bustle of a big European city with all everything we discussed today, history, coloury,
• 52:20
  delights.
• 52:21
  But then to get away from the crowds, be it at high season or any time throughout the This is the other big advantage of Spain due to geographical location and also the fact um
• 52:32
  That like a lot of countries, shoulder season's a good time to go and of course our winter is still very tolerable um over there in Spain as well.
• 52:41
  So not only is it it is a return destination, it is a destination for year round.
• 52:46
  And as we know, more and more people are wanting to get away from the crowds anywhere in the world, not just Europe.
• 52:51
  So somewhere like Spain offers that opportunity to get away from the crowds again, as I said.
• 52:56
  Be it the high season, be it the shoulder season, or be it the off-season, which is winter.
• 52:59
  It's not really an off-season anymore.
• 53:01
  It's just the winter season as well.
• 53:03
  So again, I'd like to thank Maji for his time today.
• 53:06
  Um, if anyone out there has any questions, you can reach out to the Go Away Destination Specialists, destination specialists here who can assist who can assist you on all things
• 53:16
  Spain.
• 53:17
  Of course, um, if you're in the US or even if you're in Canada, you can contact Majji directly.
• 53:22
  at his office in New York for any support you may need, marketing material, further education.
• 53:27
  Uh we do have a travel module in the Academy on Spain as well.
• 53:32
  I'll throw a little one.
• 53:33
  We have one on Portugal also, because they're just their sister countries.
• 53:37
  So if you want to learn more about the country itself, um, check out the GoA Pro Travel Academy.
• 53:44
  Again, I'd like to thank Maggie for his time.
• 53:46
  And as always, thank you out there for giving us an hour or so of your time today.
• 53:50
  We know how busy you are and
• 53:52
  Until next time.
• 53:54
  Thank you very much.